Registered for Selective Service on F1?!

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mani99

Registered Users (C)
I am planning to file for I-400 (citizenship) in a few months.

On the application, i noticed the question about 'Selective Service Registration'. After doing a bit of research i concluded that I was not required to register since I was 27 at the time i got my green card.

However, out of curiosity, I went to the SSS website and did a search on myself. To my surprise, i apparently got registered in 2004.

I am confused right now since i do not recall receiving any card or letter stating that. However, i think around that timeframe i was on an internship outside U.S. and was not a full time student. In addition, later I did an internship in U.S. also. Did that make me eligible for SSS?

How could have i gotten registered for Selective Service automatically? How will this impact my 400 application? I am thinking of contacting my college for that or should i contact SSS?

Regardless of how i got registered, I am not sure what to answer for this question on 400 form : "Are you a male who lived in the United States at any time between your 18th and 26th birthdays in any status except as a lawful non immigrant?"
 
Did you apply for the green card before turning 26? At least 10 years ago, the INS started automatically registering males in the 18-26 age range for Selective Service as part of the green card process.
 
Jackolantern said:
Did you apply for the green card before turning 26? At least 10 years ago, the INS started automatically registering males in the 18-26 age range for Selective Service as part of the green card process.
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No. Especially, not in 2004 (as per my registration date from SSS) I have only applied for green card once. I looked at the application and it is dated 06/2008. On 06/2008, I was 26 (born in 1981). I received my green card on 11/2008 (as per the 'Resident Since' date on my green card).

Before that, I have been on H-1B,H-3, F1.
 
Maybe it was something you signed when enrolled at the college that made them send off your information for Selective Service registration.
 
The guidance counselor in my U.S. high school came around each semester looking for boys who just reached 18 and stuck a form in front of them and said "Sign here."
 
I experienced something very similar. I never registered for selective service but when I checked on the SSS.gov website I was registered there effective Jan 2005 when I was on non-immigrant status. I filed for my GC in July 2005 and before that I was on H1B. A friend of mine was also registered in the same timeframe and he never applied for his GC until 2007. So I believe there is some way that the US government is automatically registering men over 18 without regard to their immigration status.

Since you were registered and have a registeration number, just put that in the application and move on. No need to get into whether you were required to register or not. If anything, it will have a positive effect on your application because you were registered even though you were not required since registeration for selective service is one of the things they look at in evaluating an applicant's attachment to the constitution and loyalty to the US.
 
duly said:
I experienced something very similar. I never registered for selective service but when I checked on the SSS.gov website I was registered there effective Jan 2005 when I was on non-immigrant status. I filed for my GC in July 2005 and before that I was on H1B. A friend of mine was also registered in the same timeframe and he never applied for his GC until 2007. So I believe there is some way that the US government is automatically registering men over 18 without regard to their immigration status.

Since you were registered and have a registeration number, just put that in the application and move on. No need to get into whether you were required to register or not. If anything, it will have a positive effect on your application because you were registered even though you were not required since registeration for selective service is one of the things they look at in evaluating an applicant's attachment to the constitution and loyalty to the US.
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Yes, that is what i was thinking that since i have a registration number I should simply mention it on the application. The only thing which concerns me is the way the question is worded on the application "Are you a male who lived in the United States at any time between your 18th and 26th birthdays in any status except as a lawful non immigrant?" The answer to this would be NO since i would have been considered a non immigrant. However, i don't think if i can answer NO and then also mention the Registration Number. :--) I am probably thinking too much on this...

Anyways, it looks like you are in the same boat. Can you please update us with your process in regards to SS registration? Thx.
 
Well I actually was not aware of my registeration until after filing the n-400. So I marked it No and moved on but I do intend to take a printout from the SSS.gov website to my interview to be presented if asked about selective service. I think what you should do is mark the question No and then also put the ss registeration information below. Then at the time of interview, if asked, you can explain that you were not required to register but you were registered and take a print out with you. Including your registeration information definitely adds value to your application so no need to exclude it for any reason.
 
I checked today and I noticed I was registered as well while in valid F-1 status. I became a LPR on Dec 15 8 months after my 26th birthday. I was advised to file a fafsa form for college and it started listing requirements. So I checked and noticed I was registered in 08/28/03. Interesting enough that's a month after I returned to the US, after going on vacation for the first time. The fall semester starts around that time. My classes could have been dropped the international student advisor saw it and thought i was not going to register for that semester.
Could that have triggered it?
I feel that my international student advisor probably who did it.
 
sd23 said:
I checked today and I noticed I was registered as well while in valid F-1 status. I became a LPR on Dec 15 8 months after my 26th birthday.
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Did you file the I-485 before you turned 26? If yes, that's probably what caused USCIS to register you. When they register men as part of the green card process, they don't necessarily wait until GC approval to send the registration.
 
I filed it after.

I found the reason though. In the fine print for NYS driver's license, you allow them to register you.

"If I am a male at least 18 but less than 26 years of age, I consent to be registered with the Selective Service System (SSS), if so required by federal law. I authorize the Commissioner to forward to the SSS my personal information that is required for registration."
 
I contacted Selective Registration and found that I was registered by the Iowa DMV. Here is what I found on their (DMV) website:

""Males age 18 through 25 who apply for a driver’s license or non-driver identification card will be asked to give consent to registration with the United States Selective System. Persons may declare that they are already registered, give consent, or refuse to give registration consent. A license or ID card will not be denied if registration is refused. However, the DOT will transmit application information to the Selective Service System. Any person who is eligible for Selective Service registration who is not already registered and refuses registration will be given information that includes the penalties for failure to register.""

I guess I would have consented to be registered then at the time I got my license.
 
I have the same "issue". Came to the US on J-1 in 2002 (age 23) (and then again in 2003 on F-1). I can't recall exactly when or why I signed up, but it was either in the paperwork package from the University I attended (and they told me to register), or I filled it out at the DMV because they told me to do so.

I'm still several months away from filing N400 (will be 32 when filing), but I plan to fill out the form in the way it was intended (that i was not required to register) and mention that i registered anyway as added information (as full disclosure).
 
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